I used to take Zolpidem all the time. Usually about 20 mg or so 1-2 hours before I planned to go to bed. It kicks in in just a few minutes, as someone else already mentioned.
It is truly a weird, just bizarre drug. For me it is very different from a benzo. Although not technically a hallucinogen, it definitely has some hallucinogenic qualities. It is easy to stay awake on it, and if you do, it just kind of puts you in a "cartoon world", as the OP put it. Objects in the peripheral vision start morphing into hallucinations. Especially when closing the eyes, the hallucinations can become more profound -- for me I usually see what I call "the ambien people" as the hallucinations from this drug tend to make me see various strange people when I close my eyes. It could be quite scary to someone not expecting these effects.
One thing to be careful with is that it really causes anterograde amnesia, notoriously -- if you take enough, or take it regularly and are in the habit of staying awake on it, then you will start to notice that it is often difficult if not impossible to recall all the events of the night before. Zolpidem has this effect on me much more than anything else I have taken, including alcohol. And some people, myself included, tend to do crazy things when under the influence of it -- things that I wouldn't normally do. I have brief flashbacks of me running circles around my block at 2 am making buzzing sounds with my lips... very odd. Other people tend to binge eat, have sleep-sex, or go out for a drive (not a good idea) with absolutely no memory of it the next day.
I have also noticed that during periods I am already using benzos like clonazepam or diazepam regularly / heavily, that I don't feel the zolpidem as much, I get a lot less of the hallucinogenic effects.
